Mental health concerns see Packer bow out
UNITED STATES: Australian billionaire James Packer has had to step down from the board of his business empire while he undergoes treatment for mental illness.
Packer, 50, son of Kerry Packer, the late media tycoon and creator of World Series Cricket, has resigned as a director of his Crown casino business.
It is not the first time his personal life has played out in public.
For the past few years Packer has mostly lived between his ranch in Argentina and a house in Tel Aviv next door to Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister. He is caught up in a scandal involving gifts allegedly given to Netanyahu and his wife, Sara.
His engagement to Mariah Carey ended acrimoniously in 2016 with a settlement to the singer thought to have been up to A$13 million. ‘‘I was at a low point,’’ he has said. ‘‘She was kind, exciting and fun. Mariah is a woman of substance. But it was a mistake for her and a mistake for me.’’
In December it was reported that Packer’s new girlfriend was a New York socialite named Kylie Lim, and that they had been spotted holding hands in the American ski resort of Aspen.
The Australian Financial Review reported that Packer had recently been feeling ‘‘awful’’ and had gained weight. In an interview with The Australian, he admitted that he had lost friends and become a recluse. He is now reported to be in the US while he deals with his mental health issues.
Despite being born into vast wealth, Packer suffered under his overbearing father and has struggled with depression. There was further strain when his first major business foray, a telecommunications venture, ended in failure. In 2013, he said their relationship was repaired by the time his father died in 2005.
Entities controlled by James Packer, one of Australia’s richest men, hold 47 per cent of Crown Resorts, which is valued at more than A$7 billion.
After his telecoms venture failed, Packer, then in his early 30s, fell into depression, became a recluse and put on weight. His first marriage, to fashion designer Jodhi Meares, ended.
He later credited film star Tom Cruise and the Church of Scientology with helping him to recover. ‘‘When I was at my lowest, Tom Cruise reached out to me,’’ he said. ‘‘He believed in me when other people didn’t.’’
In 2007 he married model and singer Erica Baxter, and they had three children before separating in 2013. His decision to end the marriage caused a brawl in Sydney in 2014 with their best man, David Gyngell, the former head of the Packers’ Australian television network. Both men were fined.